Find uplifting stories about heroes, innovations, and solutions
47 results for "environmental justice"
After toxic smoke from burning riverbed waste hospitalized seven students, 500 MIT students protested and successfully forced their university to block illegal garbage trucks. The university registrar now supports their demand for permanent waste management solutions.
A sociologist's research in the 1970s proved Houston placed toxic landfills in Black neighborhoods, sparking a global movement for environmental justice. His work has changed laws, protected communities, and turned 18 books worth of data into real action.
Gombe State is setting aside over 2 billion naira (roughly $4.5 million) to compensate 700 households whose homes and properties are being affected by vital erosion control work. The fund ensures families aren't left behind as the government works to stop destructive gully erosion from swallowing more land.
A new study reveals how 32 projects succeeded in flipping climate planning from top-down mandates to real partnerships. The secret: five key roles that give communities power at the table.
A new global study reveals a simple solution to urban heat: plant more trees where people take buses and trains. Researchers found wealthy neighborhoods have far more shade, but linking tree planting to public transit could help everyone stay cool.
A journalist brought his lead contamination investigation to Yoruba-speaking residents through their local radio station, sparking an overwhelming response. Community members called in to share their own stories of health impacts and dying factory workers.
When a clean cooking company wanted to claim Kenya's entire carbon credit allocation, the government said no. Now Kenya is building one of Africa's strongest frameworks to ensure climate progress benefits its own people first.
Civil rights icon Jesse Jackson, who died Tuesday at 84, made environmental justice a cornerstone of his 1988 presidential campaign and inspired a generation of activists. His groundbreaking work connected civil rights to clean air, safe water, and healthy communities across America.
Colombia's capital is reversing urban inequality by bringing its first clean air zones to the communities hit hardest by toxic air. The result: healthier kids, greener streets, and a blueprint other cities want to copy.
Communities are defeating a harmful industry disguised as climate solution. Wood pellet plants that destroy forests and worsen air quality have been blocked in California, Mississippi, Washington, and the Netherlands.
A federal court just ordered DTE and EES Coke to pay $120 million in penalties and community projects after their Detroit facility illegally released toxic pollution that contributed to nearly 100 early deaths. After three years of fierce community advocacy, residents in Southwest Detroit will finally get funded air purifiers, school filtration systems, and the right to breathe clean air.
A 93-year-old farmer from Punjab's Sangrur district won a landmark Supreme Court battle against Shree Cement and the state government, protecting his land and community from illegal industrial expansion. The ruling sets a powerful precedent for environmental protection and proper land use planning across India.
A farmer from Punjab spent years fighting a cement company and won, protecting his village from pollution. India's highest court sided with him, proving one person can stand up to powerful interests and win.
Former EPA Administrator Michael Regan visited Indianapolis to spotlight a major win: $117 million in federal funding bringing solar power to low-income families across five Indiana cities. The grant aims to correct decades of environmental inequality where industrial benefits skipped the communities bearing pollution's worst effects.
Indigenous cultures that view time as a spiral rather than a straight line are teaching scientists new ways to tackle environmental crises. Māori wisdom from New Zealand shows how rethinking our relationship with past, future, and nature could help communities prepare for what comes after ecological tipping points.
Louise Yeung, New York City's new chief climate officer, brings 10 years of experience rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy to help residents understand how climate impacts their daily lives. Her focus: making vulnerable neighborhoods safer, healthier, and more resilient.
Pedro Uc Be writes poetry in the Maya language to defend his people's land and preserve their stories. His work just earned him lifetime recognition at Mexico's most prestigious book fair.
A Brazilian court sentenced an illegal mining kingpin to 22 years in prison for devastating the Yanomami Indigenous Territory. The landmark ruling orders him to pay $6.1 million to the Indigenous people he harmed.
New research shows ambitious climate policies could prevent over a million premature deaths annually by 2040, though developing nations need global cooperation to reap the benefits. The Cardiff University study reveals how cross-border air pollution creates health inequalities that only collective action can solve.
Clean air laws have saved tens of thousands of American lives, with cardiovascular deaths from fine particulate pollution falling nearly 45% since 2001. Scientists now know exactly which pollutants are deadliest and where to target next.
Showing 20 of 47